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Rescue crews locate lost hiker

A 65-year-old man was rescued Friday evening after he apparently became lost while bird watching in a forested area on the Mauna Loa side of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway.

The man, whom the Hawaii County Fire Department said was a tourist, started a planned four-hour bird watching hike around 6:30 a.m. Friday. He apparently became disoriented in thick brush amid an ohia forest and rough lava terrain.

Fire rescue personnel initiated a search at 7:53 p.m. The personnel first located the man’s parked vehicle near mile marker 23.5 on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway. Assisted by GPS coordinates from the man’s cellphone, rescue personnel concentrated their efforts on the surrounding area.

The Hawaii County Fire Department said personnel from the U.S. Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area located the man deep in a forested area in the vicinity of mile marker 23 by the Pohakuloa Training Area.

He was escorted out of the area by fire rescue personnel and did not require any medical attention. All rescue personnel were back in quarters by 1:25 a.m. Saturday.